This invention relates generally to the art of trash collectors, and more specifically, to spear type trash collectors.
Most people have at one time or another employed a stick with a cut-off nail therein to pick up trash, the nail at one end of the stick being controlled from the other end to penetrate trash. The trash is then shoved from the nail by an operator's hand into a trash receptacle. This device is relatively messy and slow to use and requires the use of two hands. It is an object of this invention to provide a spear-type device for picking up trash which can be operated by one hand and which is relatively clean and fast in operation.
A number of devices manifesting improvements in the "nail-in-the-stick" trash collector have been suggested over the years and some of them have been put into practice. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,03l to Haberstick describes a paper and rubish pick-up in which a rod passes through a stationary tubing and is interconnected therewith by a spring. When a handle member is pressed, a point of the rod comes out of the tubing to penetrate paper on the ground. When the handle member is released the spring will pull the rod back into the tubing and the paper or rubish will be dropped into a receptacle. A problem with this device is that an operator thereof must exert continual pressure on the handle member once he has penetrated one piece of trash, otherwise the trash will be prematurely disengaged onto the ground. Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a litter gun which is automatically cocked upon penetration of a piece of trash but which must not be held in the cocked position by exertion of force.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,642,306 to Beeler discloses a device in which a trigger engages a groove of a spear. After an exposed end of the spear has been filled with trash it is placed in a trash receptacle and a handle of the trigger is pressed to disengage the groove. When this occurs, a loaded spring will force the spear rod upwardly relative to a housing to cause trash on the spear point to disengage the point. The spear point is returned to its operative position by moving the spear rod downwardly in the housing until the trigger again engages the groove. This device must be "cocked" before it can be used and such cocking requires the use to two hands. It is an object of this invention to provide a litter gun which must not be cocked prior to use and which can be easily operated by one hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,804,336 to Thompson includes a hand grip to move a rod in a tube. Downward movement of the rod causes a plate to move away from a head and thereby eject trash from prongs. Again, this device requires two hands to operate.
Foust (U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,l43) discloses a device which can be operated by one hand, however, the handle of this device is rather difficult to manipulate and this device can only function in relatively deep, soft soil, or it must be designed to pick up only small amounts of trash. It is an object of this invention to provide a litter spear device which can easily be manipulated by one hand to pick up both small and large amounts of trash in areas of shallow soft soil as well as areas of deep soft soil.
It is an object of this invention to provide a litter gun which not only can be operated with one hand to pick up large amounts of trash in areas of shallow soft soil, but also which "shoots" litter, pistol style, short distances when the litter is ejected thereby increasing the range of an operator and providing fun and satisfaction for the operator during operation of the litter gun.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a litter gun which is relatively inexpensive to construct and uncomplicated to use.